Subyearling Chinook salmon diets in Lower Columbia River estuarine habitats

The Lower Columbia River and Estuary is critical rearing habitat for juvenile Pacific salmon. Extending from the river mouth to Bonneville Dam 235 river kilometers upstream, the Estuary has been altered by dams, dikes, and habitat loss due to deforestation and wetland removal. Since 2008, a science group has monitored five sites to identify the long-term status and trends in Lower Columbia River and Estuary juvenile salmon rearing habitat. Here, we address predominantly natural origin juvenile Chinook Oncorhynchus tshawytscha diets and identify spatial and temporal trends in prey consumption, stomach fullness, energy consumption, and the metabolic costs associated with fish size and water temperatures. Juvenile Chinook diets consisted mainly of corophiid amphipods, chironomid dipterans, and cladocerans, with other insects filling in most of the remainder of their diets. Juvenile Chinook salmon diets were stable, and stomach fullness and caloric intake was comparable among the sites wher..., , # Subyearling Chinook salmon diets in Lower Columbia River estuarine habitats

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.c59zw3rm2](10.5061/dryad.c59zw3rm2)

## Description of the data and file structure

Title: Subyearling Chinook salmon diets in Lower Columbia River estuarine habitats

This dataset contains 2008-2021 juvenile Chinook salmon diet data. Each row represents one salmon and its stomach contents, including total prey weight, total prey energy density, and metabolic costs. Additional data include water temperature at time of sampling, mark status, i.e., natural or hatchery origin fish, and the best estimate of fish origin. 

### Files and variables

#### File: data\_2025\_LCEP\_EMP\_diets\_manuscript.xlsx

**Description:** 2008-2021 subyearling Chinook diet data

##### Variables

| Site | EMP site name |
| :--------------...,